


Still Jack and Daniel - The 2nd Year - XVI The Wizard of the Wind

by Annejackdanny



Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 2 - No Yellow Brick Road/Ghosts of the Past [16]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 07:10:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annejackdanny/pseuds/Annejackdanny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack, Daniel and Al go spelunking at the Cave of the Winds. Daniel explores, things happen... the Wizard of Oz gets mangled by one Jack O'Neill, you have been warned :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still Jack and Daniel - The 2nd Year - XVI The Wizard of the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> This contains a Jack O'Neill version of "The Wizard of Oz" I did use a transcript of the original story to make this work. I hope no one minds.

**The Wizard of the Winds**

**I**

Jack ducked and bent in his knees to avoid another painful collision with the rugged ceiling. The back of his head was already throbbing from a previous bang into calcite crystals. His knees creaked in protest against the undesired crouch. Holding his kerosine lantern in front of him, Jack made out a narrow path and several moving figures. 

“Daniel,” he snapped, irritated that he couldn't see him properly.

“I'm here,” a cheerful voice piped up to his left.

“Right.” He swung the lantern around and for a moment the light reflected in Daniel's glasses. “Al?”

“I'm here.” Daniel's little friend didn't sound all that cheerful, but he did hold his own. 

“You okay, kiddo?” Jack asked probably for the fifth time.

“Yeah. I'm glad I brought the extra jacket though. It's chilly,” Al said.

“Come on! The guide's ahead of us,” Daniel urged them on and Jack heard the thump thump of his boots as he sped up. 

“Daniel, don't run... Ow!” Jack blinked away the stars dancing before his eyes as his head had yet another run in with the low hanging ceiling. “Crap,” he hissed, swiping a hand through his hair. No blood. But another bump for sure. “Wait up,” he called after the peaceful explorer. 

“Hurry!” Daniel shouted from somewhere in front of him. Jack could see the lantern bopping up and down a few feet away. 

“I'm coming,” Al said and moved in front of Jack. “Are you coming, Colonel?”

“Yeah yeah.” Jack followed the kids who had the advantage of being small enough to easily walk through the caves whereas he had to duck and bend in places to make it through uninjured... head bumps aside.

“Be careful!” Daniel warned. “Steep steps!”

“Great,” Jack muttered. “Again?” The roughly hewn stone steps were leading into a narrow corridor. They were steep and the ceiling hanging low over the colonel's head. Around him he could hear others from their group give warnings of cautions to their companions and family members. 

“This is like Halloween, just more scary,” Al shared in a stage whisper. “You expect zombies to jump out at you any minute.” And to underline his statement Al let off one truly horrible zombie roar. 

Several people around them gasped and one other kid started crying. “Keep moving,” Jack hissed through gritted teeth as he heard the upset voice of an adult, trying to calm the bawling kid, getting closer.

“Sorry,” Al whispered and sniggered. 

Daniel snorted. “Have you ever watched _Descent_? That's a movie about four women getting lost in a giant unexplored cave. They get eaten alive by gruesome zombie creatures with gray skin and yellow eyes.”

“Your dad lets you watch movies like that?” Al asked, impressed.

Jack grimaced behind his back. _Try to talk yourself out of that one, space monkey_ , he thought. 

“Um,” Daniel said, “Uh... no, actually, that was... I just read about it.”

“Cool,” Al commented. “Do you have that movie, Colonel O'Neill?”

“No,” Jack said. “And maybe now is not the time to talk zombie in cave movies.” He remembered that one. SG-1 had watched it pre-downsizing. It was pretty gory and one of Teal'c's favorites for some reason. Probably the adventures of four hot athletic chicks climbing through a cave system kicking zombie ass had something to do with it. 

“I'm not scared or anything. I'm just scared of spiders. Not of zombies. There're no zombies for real,” Al said as though he was trying to ease Jack's mind about zombies lurking in the dark. “I watched _Men in Black_. There was this huge huge roach trying to take over Earth. That was icky. And it swallowed up the guy. Not Will Smith. The other guy. D'you think roaches live in caves, Daniel?” 

“No. Roaches like it warm and cozy, I guess,” Daniel said. “Did you know that there are roaches living in palm trees?” 

“Yuck!” Al squeaked. 

Jack rolled his eyes just as Al slipped in front of him and, with a yelp, stumbled forwards. Years of trained reflexes had Jack grabbing the kid by the collar of his jacket before he could make a head dive down these stairs. “Whoa! Watch your step!”

“Are you alright, Al?” Daniel asked, worried.

“Your dad caught me! Thank you, Colonel. Please don't tell my mom I slipped? She's been kind of nervous about this trip. She only agreed to it because it was Doc Svenson's idea.”

“You're welcome. And my lips are sealed.” Jack gave Al a gentle pat on the shoulder as they continued down the stairs, wondering how anxious Al's mom would be if she knew they were basically crawling through the cave system with only lanterns to light their way and a guide who seemed to like rushing through here as though the whole place might crash down on them any minute.

With a suppressed sigh of relief Jack welcomed the end of the steps. He probed for the ceiling and dared to walk upright again. The narrow path opened into a cavern chamber and he counted ten flickering lanterns gathered there. The smell of kerosine was a bit nauseating 

Apparently they had caught up with their guide. 

Ed, or Eddie, or whatever he was called, raised his voice to reach everyone as he described how the Cave of the Winds had been discovered by two little boys in 1869 during a church picnic. Sounded just like a Tom Sawyer tale to Jack. Apparently the kids had discovered a cleft in the mountainside and gone inside. 

“But when they entered the cleft it turned out to open into a wide cave. The wind whistled and howled through the entryway and scared the boys off. They ran into town and told ghost stories, but no one believed them. No one except old Arthur B. Love, a settler from Williams Canyon. He went to explore the haunted spot the boys kept talking about and found what we now know as the Cave of the Winds,” Eddie explained. 

“But it's much older than that,” a young voice pointed out. “Early legends of the Jicarilla Apaches, who migrated through the Pikes Peak region around 1000 AD, told of a cave in the Manitou Springs area where the Great Spirit of the Wind resided.”

Eddie peered down his nose at one Daniel Jackson, apparently surprised today's youth were interested in history. “You're perfectly right,” he said. 

“I looked it up on the internet before we got here,” Daniel went on. “First the brothers John and George Pickett found it during a trip to Williams Canyon in 1880. They found a small cave near the limestone archway. When they lit their candles, they noticed the flames flickered in the wind that blew from a nearby crevice. They crawled through the passageway and came into a large chamber. But it was George Washington Snider, a stonecutter, who began preparations for guided tours.”

“Right again,” Ed, or Eddie, said mildly surprised. “Cave of the Winds has been in continuous operation since February 1881. Sadly in the early days tourists were encouraged to touch the walls and break up the tips of stalactites to take home a piece of their cave adventures. As you may have noticed there has been a lot of damage to some of the formations we passed... “

Which would explain why there were so few formations to look at in the first place. Jack had blamed the boring scenery they'd been traipsing through for the last forty minutes on the low light. Shuffling through dirty muddy tunnels had been less than entertaining. Heck, the Unas caves he'd seen when they had gone after Daniel and Chaka had been more interesting than this. 

They should have taken the Discovery Tour or the Eco Tour. The Discovery Tour had promised visits to places with magical names such as The Majestic Hall, the Bridal Chamber and the Temple of Silence. It also provided electric overhead lights in some of the places. 

On the Eco Tour they'd at least have flashlights and - according to their website - a look at fascinating geological finds and formations. 

But nope. They had to end up with kerosine lanterns. Because Daniel _I'm-feeling-adventurous,Jack,let's-take-the-lantern-tour_ Jackson had insisted it'd be more authentic that way. 

And they’d had to crawl through muddy dingy tunnels because it'd be more fun and just like good old times. 

_You're going to love it - it'll be like being off world exploring dark caves, Jack._

Yeah, right. Jack had been stupid enough to rely on Al as he suggested voting about their choice of tour. Surely Al wouldn't want to do a lantern tour, right? He wasn't the bravest kinda kid. But Al had nodded his approval of lanterns and rugged cave exploring. “Doctor Svenson says to be more adventurous even though my mom doesn't like that much,” he had said with a nervous little smile at Jack's scowl. “I know nothing's going to happen to me when I'm with you and Daniel.”

Yep, it had been Svenson's idea to take Al along when Daniel had mentioned to her they were going spelunking this weekend. And Daniel had liked the idea. So here they were; spelunking, the adventurous way. 

Adventurous seemed to be the word of the day. 

Several people started asking questions now. About how big the caves were, how many exits there were, if this section of the caves had only recently been explored... 

Jack zoned them out and pulled the camera from his jacket. He placed his lantern on a ledge and started to take a couple of pictures. They'd probably be able to see more on these pics later than now. 

***

Daniel and Al stood by the far wall of the chamber. Their lights flickered over fissured limestone and what appeared to be broken off stalactites. 

“If each formation only grows the length of a small ice cube every century it'll take a long time until the cave will look really cool again.” Al gently touched one of the crystals. “I'd still love to take a piece of it with me.” 

“You can't. It's forbidden. And it's just not the right thing to do,” Daniel said, but his eyes followed Al's longingly. “Maybe if we'd just pick up a rock from the ground... if we didn't break anything off.”

“That would work,” Al said. “But there's not a lot of rubble around here.”

“Maybe if I can loosen bits of it with my knife. Just not from stalactites. But from the ground. Look, there's a cavity in the wall. No stalactites, but some rocks that seemed to have fallen off the ceiling.” Daniel pulled out his Swiss army knife as he knelt and let his hands slide over the stones. They felt smooth from centuries of water seeping through the walls and rounding their edges. Al held their lanterns so he could see a little more of what was in front of him. 

“No,” he said sadly. “Doesn't look like we'll find anything loose enough to take. And I don't want to break stuff off that's not already loose. Hey, Al! Shine the light a little lower here.” Daniel narrowed his eyes. “I think there's a tunnel here.” 

“Really? Where?” The lantern came into view and the boys stared into what was not a tunnel, but a large round hole in the ground. It opened up just a few feet away from them where the cavity ended. 

It was huge. 

“Do you hear that?” Al whispered. From the blackness beneath the opening came a long haunted howl. 

“That's the wind,” Daniel whispered back. “It's why its called Cave of the Winds. Because the wind whistles and howls in here.”

“I don't like it,” Al said, a slight tremble in his voice. “Let's go find your dad.”

“It's just the wind,” Daniel repeated. “Let me see if there's some rubble to pick up here.” He edged a bit closer to the hole and started to gently poke its craggy edge with his knife. 

“It's okay. I don't need a stone to take with me, Daniel,” Al pulled at Daniel's jacket. “C'mon.”

“Wait! Just a second... Oh, oh, no!” The knife had slipped from his fingers and trundled down into the darkness. Daniel could hear as it hit the bottom with a low 'clonk'. He sat back on his heels, staring at his empty hand. “I lost my knife.” 

“Will you be in trouble? Was it expensive?”

“No. But...” Daniel bit his lip. Jack had given it to him before their Honduras trip this spring. It symbolized one of the many milestones he had passed ever since the downsizing. He carried it with him all the time. Losing it meant parting with something he had treasured very highly. Sometimes he had imagined when he was big again, that he would keep this knife as something that linked him to this second childhood - even though he wouldn't remember it consciously. 

But now it was gone. Daniel was about to turn away and accept this loss as something he couldn't change when, in the dim glow of the lantern, he saw a red glint at the corner of his eye. Whipping back towards the hole he bent over it to have a better view. “The light, Al, hold it a bit lower, please... I can see it! It's right down there and it's not deep.”

“Can you reach it?” Al squeezed in next to Daniel, holding the lantern out over the opening. “I can see it too! But... you don't know what's down there. It might be dangerous and I can't see how you'll get up again.”

“Should've taken the rope,” Daniel muttered. He had wanted to take a rope and his rock climbing equipment, but Jack had given him the hairy eyeball and recited those written-in-stone-rules about how they would not wander off/part from their group/get lost and that ropes weren't needed, period.

“Maybe your dad can reach it,” Al said. “I'll go get him.”

“Okay,” Daniel said absently, still staring at his knife. It was really not deep. He could jump down and get it and Jack could pull him out again. 

_And rip your head off right after that_ , he thought bemused. 

“Al, wait!” He snatched his friend by his ankle as he was about to leave. “I don't think we need Jack for this. I'll go down and get the knife and you can help me out again.”

Al stared at him, eyes wide. “Are you mad?”

“No, no. It's all right. Look. I could almost reach it if I'd go down head first.”

“You're not going to though, are you?” Al sounded actually scared now.

“No, of course not.” Daniel said a little impatiently. To stall further anxious remarks from Al's side, he swung his legs into the opening and lowered himself into the hole. And just as he had estimated his sneakers hit the ground almost as soon as he'd jumped. 

He looked up and saw Al's concerned face in the light of the lantern. “See? It's not deep,” he called.

“Ohhkaaay,” Al said, not convinced. 

Daniel crouched and felt around for his knife. It didn't take long before his fingers closed around it and with a pang of relief he tucked it away into the pocket of his pants. 

“Daniel? What's down there?” Al craned his neck, trying to see beyond the small circle of light the lantern provided. 

“I dunno. Hand me down one of the lanterns and I'll take a look,” he said, a sudden surge of excitement running through him. Al leaned in and Daniel took the lantern. They could easily touch hands so it wouldn't be a problem for Al to help him out of here. Daniel turned and held up his light. 

“Oh wow!” He took a step away from the opening. “That's just amazing!”

“What is it! Daniel, come back here!” Al's voice floated down to him.

“I'll be right back!” Daniel shouted as he walked towards the glistening formation of what looked like bizarre pendants hanging down from the ceiling. 

***

Jack pocketed his camera and picked up his lantern as the group started to leave the chamber in a hasty attempt to keep up with Ed, the busy guide. He adjusted the backpack he carried. It contained snacks, drinks and other stuff he'd thought useful for spelunking in dark caves. 

Now where were the kids? Probably at the front of the line talking Ed's ear off as they went. “Daniel? Al?” He moved in a circle, his light giving him glimpses of stones and muddy ground. 

“Colonel O'Neill?” 

“Over here!” He held up the lantern in the direction the sound of running feet was coming from. Al's white face emerged from the darkness, his eyes wide. Jack didn't like that look. He started moving towards Al. “What happened?”

“It's Daniel. He lost his knife and went down into that hole and now he's gone.”

“Where?” Jack didn't waste any breath or time to get the whole story out of the kid. He got the basics. Daniel, hole, went down, gone. 

“O... over here.” Al led the way to what turned out to be a cavity at the bottom of the wall. “Be careful. It's a big hole.”

Jack knelt and held his kerosine fueled light into the gap. He saw a circular opening in the ground, big enough to let a man through. He could see the bottom. So not a deep hole. A very tempting discovery for SG-1's former archeologist for sure. Apparently tempting enough to risk being into serious trouble. “Daniel! Get back here, NOW!” 

“He was there just a minute ago,” Al said. “Then he said he saw something and... and walked away and I couldn't see him anymore. He took his light with him though.”

Jack turned to Al and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. The last thing he needed right now was the boy to panic. “We'll get him back. But I need you to be quiet for a moment. Okay?”

Al nodded, clutching his lantern with both hands.

“Good.” He put his own lantern on the ground next to Al and shrugged off his backpack. Rummaging around in it his fingers closed around the flashlight and a moment later he had a much better view of what was down there. The chamber beneath them was man-high and the ground glistening with wetness. But he couldn't see a trace of his boy. He stretched out on his stomach and shoved his head and shoulders into the opening. 

“Daniel!” he bellowed again. 

From somewhere came a reply. “Here! Jack, I'm here!” There was an undertone in the kid's voice that caused the hairs on Jack's neck to rise. 

“Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I'm stuck!”

 _For heaven's sake..._ “Stuck, how?!” 

“In a gap!” There was desperation in his voice now. “I can't get out!” 

“Crap!” Jack turned to Al, who was sitting motionless, staring at him. “We need to get down there. I want you to do exactly what I tell you to do. We'll be fine. Trust me?”

Al nodded. 

“I'm going down. You'll hand me the backpack and the lanterns. Then I'll get you. We can't go after the guide, he's long gone. Our top priority is to find Daniel, then we'll call for help. Okay?” It was all the explanation Jack was willing to give at this point. 

Al nodded again. 

“Good.” He swung his legs into the hole and lowered himself until he felt solid ground. Once he'd taken his pack and the lanterns from Al, he turned and his flashlight illuminated a large cavern. “Daniel! I'll come and get you!”

“Hurry!” 

Jack shone the light into Al's face. “Okay, get down here. It's not dangerous.”

“Can't... can't I wait up here?” Al asked. “I won't go anywhere, I promise.”

“We’re not splitting up. C'mon, it's a piece of cake.” 

“But...”

“That's an order. Move!” He didn't have time to be sensitive about this. If Al refused to come on his own Jack would drag him down here. But to his relief a pair of feet and legs appeared in front of Jack's face. Al let out a strangled yelp and jumped. 

“Good job,” Jack said. “Take the lanterns. And watch your step. Stay right behind me.” 

“That wasn't so bad,” Al mumbled. “Not bad at all. I'm not scared. It's just a stupid cave.”

“That's the right attitude,” Jack assured him. But his mind was focused only on one thing. “Where exactly are you, Daniel!?” he called out. 

“I... I walked away from the hole... to the left... there's... there's this huge formation right in front of you. It looks like a pendant hanging from the ceiling.”

Jack turned left and walked into the cavern as his light caught something white and glittering ahead. It really resembled a pendant and was pretty impressive. But he had no eyes for its beauty. “Got it. Where to now?” 

“Right in front of it. I'm waving my arms!”

Once he checked that Al was still following closely, Jack moved forwards, the light pointed at the ground. He caught Daniel's flailing arms, his head and shoulders. The rest of him was stuck in the ground. 

“Jack! Here!”

“Don't move. Keep your legs still. Did the ground break away or did you step into a pit?”

“I stepped into it and then slipped. It's like a cone. I think the ground around it is solid. I... I didn't see it.” Daniel sniffed and Jack saw pain written all over his small face. 

He instructed Al to stay where he was and hooked the flashlight to his belt. He tread carefully, but the ground turned out to be stable. Once he reached Daniel he crouched next to him. “Easy, buddy. I'm here. Where does it hurt?” 

“My shoulders,” Daniel groaned. “Can you pull me out?” 

“Ribs? Chest? Your breathing okay?”

“Yeah. Feel everything, too. Don't think anything's broken.”

Jack shoved his hands under Daniel's armpits. They used to be pros at getting each other out of tight spots and years of dealing with life threatening situations on an almost weekly basis helped to get back into the old routine. There'd be time for freaking later. 

“Okay. Ready?”

“Ready.”

Jack slowly got to his feet and, at the same time, pulled. Daniel let out a low moan, but there was definitely movement. Inch by inch his body reappeared; chest, hips, thighs, knees... “I've got ya. Easy now.” He lowered Daniel to the ground and immediately started to check him for injuries. His jacket was torn at the back and his pants were muddy and wet, but other than that... 

“Move your legs,” Jack said and watched with relief when Daniel pulled up his knees and stretched them again.

Jack opened the kid's jacket and pushed his t-shirt up to probe his belly and ribs. “Does this hurt?”

“No... ow!”

“Probably just a bruise,” Jack muttered. He was no doctor, but he had enough years of giving first aid under his belt to make a pretty good guess. He let Daniel sit up and move his arms and shoulders when he noticed the subtle flinch and sucking of air. “What?” 

“My hands,” Daniel ground out. “I tried to stop the fall and then pull me out by myself. And there are broken stalagmites everywhere.”

Jack checked Daniel's hands and found his palms sore and bloody. He winced in sympathy. This was going to hurt like hell. 

“Daniel? Daniel, are you okay?” Al called from where he was sitting next to the backpack and the lanterns. 

“Fine,” Daniel answered in a very small voice. “I'm fine.”

“We need to get you dry. And out of here,” Jack said. The ground around them was slippery and wet. That's what had made the walls glitter in the light. Water trickling down the pendant crystals. “I'm going to carry you.”

“I can walk,” Daniel said firmly and scrambled to his feet. “Please. I think it'll hurt more if you carry me.” He took one step, then another. Jack hovered close, ready to catch him should he fall or stagger. But they crossed the short distance to Al without a hitch. “Well, apparently I'm not paralyzed,” Daniel quipped. But the little laugh following that statement was shaky and feeble. 

“Man, Daniel, you're nuts,” moaned Al.

“It's nice you haven't lost your sense of humor,” Jack said grimly. 

Daniel cringed and shuffled his dirty boots on the ground. Jack made an effort to push the need to yell and vent way down his to-do list. He shouldered his pack and let the kids take point as they walked back to the hole in the ceiling. It was considerably less wet here. At least there were no puddles on the ground and it wasn't as slippery. He made the boys sit down on a ledge and opened his pack. Yep, he'd done good to do some extra packing. 

“You're going to need these,” he told Daniel, thrusting two pairs of sweatpants on the ledge between the boys. 

Daniel blinked. “You brought extra pants?”

“I figured you'd be all muddy and dirty after crawling through here. I didn't intend to drive home with you leaving half the cave's dirt in my truck.” Actually, the extra clothes had been a last minute idea just in case. Knowing Daniel was not afraid to get dirty while exploring some cool stalactites... . Jack had planned to take them to MacDonald's on their way home and he'd figured they'd be more comfortable in dry pants if they managed to resemble moles once they'd emerged from the caves. However, having to pull Daniel out of a pit had not been on his agenda when they had left home.

“I don't need new pants. These will dry.” But he didn't sound very aggressive. And he didn't look at Jack. 

“Spare me the lecture about hypothermia. You don't want to spend some quality time in the infirmary. Put them on. And yes, you'll put both of them on. It'll keep you warmer.” 

Not waiting for approval Jack crouched, untied Daniel's dirt crusted boots and pulled them off. Removing the damp socks too, he told him to stand. “Can you handle it?” he asked, indicating Daniel's sore hands. 

“Yes,” the kid hissed. “It'd be nice if you didn't make this even more embarrassing than it already is.” He started to fumble with belt and buttons. 

Jack was itching to just do it for him. It had to be painful using his hands like this. But knowing Daniel's stubborn streak and his need to keep at least part of his dignity intact it was easier to just let him try and see where it got him.

Jack turned to Al, who was sitting next to Daniel, holding his lantern in both hands and gazing at a spot on the wall. Fishing around in the backpack again he retrieved a payday bar. “Here, eat that. It'll boost your energy level.” 

“Colonel O'Neill? How are we going to get out of here?” Al asked as he opened his peanut caramel bar with trembling fingers. “Can we just call s... someone t.. to get us out?”

“Mobile phones won't work in caves,” Jack said gently. “But...”

“You could try,” Daniel interrupted. “Maybe we're not that far underground.”

Jack decided a try wouldn't hurt. But when he switched his phone on he got no signal at all. Al looked like he wanted to start crying any minute, so Jack hurried to say, “Look, we have a map and we're not far from the guided path. So we should be able to make it on our own. The tour was almost over anyway.” Only it had been the last tour of the day and Jack hoped they made it to the exit before the cave was locked for the night. That had been his own bright idea. Take the last tour of the day so the caves wouldn't be too crowded with people. 

Good thinking O'Neill. Not. 

“Maybe Edward noticed we're gone and will send someone in to find us,” Al sniffed. 

“Edward?” Jack pulled a blank.

“Our guide.”

“Ah.” He didn't want to break it to the kids, but he hardly believed Edward would even stop to make a headcount. He'd been in such a hurry, he was probably already on his way home to the little wife or whatever. He cupped Al's face with one hand. It felt cool to the touch. “Are you cold?”

“No, I'm good. I just want to get out of here,” Al said, swallowing hard. “But I'm okay.”

“'m done,” Daniel murmured and took the payday bar Jack had ready for him. 

“How are your hands?” Jack asked, noticing how Daniel held the candy only with his fingertips.

“Sore,” Daniel replied curtly. “Not much we can do about that now. We should be moving.”

“Daniel,” Jack said with a look at the kid's bare feet. “Shoes?”

“Oh. Err... right. Shoes.” Daniel looked at his hands. “In... in a minute.”

Shaking his head, Jack gently pushed him back down on the ledge. Out of his backpack came a pair of dry socks. “I can...” Daniel started, but chose to retreat to defeated silence. 

Once Daniel had his boots back on, Jack retrieved the map from the side pocket of the pack and studied it for a moment. The tours were highlighted. The lantern tour was the orange path. He quickly found the spot where the guide had last stopped for his little history lesson. “We need to get back up there and then just follow the path until we get to another large chamber. It's not far from there,” Jack informed his little sidekicks. 

***

Jack helped Al and Daniel through the gap in the ceiling. “Be careful with your hands,” he warned, but even though Daniel tried to use his elbows as support to get on his knees, he had to use his hands at least once. Tears sprang to his eyes, but he bit hard on his bottom lip and crept away from the opening just as Jack's head appeared in it. 

He wanted to push Al off as he tried to help him stand, but knew better than that. His anger was only self directed. He couldn't blame Al for trying to be supportive. Wiping an arm across his face Daniel turned away from the friend and watched Jack clamber out of the gap. 

“All right. Before we move on I'm going to treat your hands,” Jack said, opening the wondrous backpack once more. “I need you to hold the light, Al.”

Daniel resisted the impulse to hide his hands behind his back when Jack whipped out a pack of antiseptic wipes. Gritting his teeth in the anticipation of blazing pain he held them in the beam of the flashlight. 

Al sucked in a harsh breath. “Does it hurt?” 

“Yeah,” Daniel said. “But I'm fine.” 

Jack was as careful as he could be under the circumstances, but Daniel still felt like banging his head against the rock wall just to override the burning in his palms as Jack cleaned them. “Almost done. Just once more. There you go. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now.” He spread a thin layer of Neosporin on the scraped area.

“What's that?” Al asked.

“Antibiotic cream,” Jack replied. “There's a first aid kit with bandages in my pack. Can you get that for me?”

“Okay. Wow, you thought of everything!”

“Field experience,” Jack said dryly. 

Al and the light went away and Daniel squeezed his eyes shut against the threatening tears. His hands felt like burning torches. He knew the pain would subside into a low throb soon, but he couldn't remember this being so bad when he'd been big. And he'd had a lot of experience with wounds and scraped skin. He couldn't suppress a gasp of pain and a small sob. 

“Shhh. C'mere.” He was pulled into a hug and buried his face into Jack's jacket for a moment. Everything hurt. His shoulders and arms, his back, his legs, his ribs... probably all bruised and sprained from when the cone pit had stopped his fall so abruptly. But he could breath and walk okay. It could have been worse. A lot worse. And all because he hadn't paid attention where he was going... just a moment of carelessness... how incredibly stupid. 

When Al returned with the bandages, Jack quickly dressed Daniel's hands and ordered him not to use them unless he absolutely had to. “Next time we're spelunking I'll make you wear knee pads, helmets and gloves,” he growled. 

Daniel sighed. Now was probably a good time to start apologizing. “I'm sorry I ruined the day,” he said quietly. “I didn't mean to.”

“It just happened,” Jack said sarcastically. “Sounds familiar.”

Biting his lip, he felt the need to explain himself. “I lost my knife and it was really easy to get it back. I thought...”

But Jack put a hand on his shoulder and said in a more gentle voice, “We'll talk about this later, Daniel. Right now we need to go.” 

Al opened the bottle of water Jack had offered him and took a long swig. “Are we really going to get out of here soon?” he asked. 

“Yeah. Don't worry. The worst is over,” Jack said. 

“Okay.” Al sounded a lot more confident all of a sudden. “See, Daniel? Don't worry. We won't starve to death. And you'll be okay soon.”

“Thanks, Al.” Daniel accepted the water bottle Jack held to his mouth and drank with deep thirsty gulps until it was withdrawn. 

They started to cross the cavern. Since Daniel couldn't carry anything, Al walked next to him carrying both lanterns. Jack took the rear, but the reassuring bright beam of his flashlight danced ahead of them. The chamber merged into a wide tunnel and they made good time as they trudged on the well worn trail. 

Daniel felt pretty beat though and he was sure he wouldn't be able to move a muscle tomorrow. He was also sure Jack would drag him to see Janet as soon as they were out of here. And he didn't even want to think of the tongue lashing he was surely going to get later from a certain colonel. 

Oh, joy. 

“There's the next cavern,” Al's voice pulled him out of his dark thoughts. “Look! It's huge!”

It was. Even larger than the last one had been. And here they discovered another formation. When Jack's light hit the ceiling Daniel thought it looked as if hundreds of clusters of grapes were hanging from it. The walls were much dryer here than before. He could see the different layers of limestone. 

“D'you ever wonder how it got here?” Al asked as they looked around and up at the 'grapes' “The cave, I mean. How did it become a cave? No one dug it out. It was just there when they found it.”

“It's complicated,” Daniel said, trying to remember what he'd learned in his geology class a lifetime ago. “I think millions of years ago Pikes Peak was covered by warm shallow sea water. And there're shells and all kinds of creatures in the sea, right? And when the shells died, I mean what lived in them, the shells fell to the bottom of the sea and broke up. And so layers and layers of shells piled up. And the weight of the overlying layers of shells squeezed, compacted and got cemented together. That's what limestone is made off.”

“Are you saying the Rocky Mountains are made of sea shells?” 

“Yeah, I guess. When the sea retreated most of the rocks were above ground. But some were underground. And I guess the caves were built by rainwater mixed with carbon dioxide seeping in. And over thousand of years rooms and passageways were built.” It was good to talk. It took some of the numbness from him and made him feel more alert. “After the water table dropped below the level of the cave system, the passageways and rooms filled with air, and cave decorationsbegan to form.”

“Cool,” Jack and Al said as one and Daniel had to grin. Sometimes it was fun to show off what he knew. 

“Hey, kids. Look at that!” Jack had spun around and illuminated another part of the cavern they were in. 

“A frozen waterfall!” Even in his state of pain, Daniel skidded to a halt, his eyes gazing up at its natural gracefulness. It seemed to run down the wall, just frozen in time in mid flow. Again it glistened in the light like it was of ice. 

“Whoooa,” Al whooped. “That's the coolest thing I've seen so far.” 

Daniel would have liked a picture of it, but Jack urged them to move on and so they left and ventured into another dark tunnel, leading upwards. 

“How ya doing, Daniel?” Jack's hand sneaked around to feel his forehead. “You're not cold or dizzy?”

“No, I'm good.”

“Peachy, eh?” There was a low snort and Daniel felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

“Under the circumstances,” he amended his statement. 

“Al?”

“I'm good. Just hungry. And I... uh, I gotta... .”

“Add some water to the cave system?” 

“Um, yeah. But... but I can't see much. And... and I dunno if it's allowed to...“

Jack took the lanterns from him and held them up. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Our lips are sealed. And it's dark so we won't see a thing either.”

Daniel felt compelled to add, “You saw me losing my pants, so we're even now.”

“Ha ha,” Al muttered, but shuffled out of the way to take care of business. 

“What time is it?” Daniel whispered. “Won't his mom be anxious that we’re getting home this late?”

“Nah. I told her we're going to MacDonald's after the tour. And she's probably not home anyway,” Jack said after a look at his watch.

“Ohhh. Burgers and Fries,” Al shouted.

Daniel sighed. “We're not going to MacDonald's now though, right?”

“The only place we’re going to once we're out of here is the mountain,” Jack said in a tone that didn't allow any discussion on the matter. 

However, Daniel still had to try. “Look, I'm not mortally injured or anything. Can't we do Mac, take Al home and then go to see Janet? This is all my fault and we should at least buy him dinner.” 

“You don't have to buy me dinner,” Al said as they were on their way again. “I can eat at home. Are you going to take Daniel to Cheyenne Mountain? Is there a doctor where you work? Can't I come with you? I've never been to NORAD before.”

“Oy,” Jack muttered. “That's kind of complicated. Look, I'll drop you off at home and we'll do the MacDonald trip another time.”

“Yeah. When I'm not grounded anymore,” Daniel said with a sheepish glance at Jack. “So probably after you graduate from high school, Al.”

“More like after he's done with college,” Jack said dryly. 

“It's not Daniel's fault he fell into a nasty pit,” Al said in defense of Daniel. “He lost his knife and just wanted it back and had an accident.”

“I should have just left it where it was,” Daniel mumbled. Or at least he shouldn't have wandered away from the spot once he'd gotten his knife back.

“But you're hurt now and you've been real cool about it. You didn't even cry. Much.” Al tugged at Jack's sleeve. “Aren't you just glad he didn't die? He could have died, you know? If he'd fallen into that pit all the way?”

Daniel couldn't make out Jack's face in the dark, but there was the hint of a smile in his voice when he answered. “Yes, Al. I'm very glad Daniel didn't die.” Daniel could almost her the unspoken _'this time'_. 

They pulled out the map again and realized they were very close to the exit. Daniel could almost already feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. He imagined the gift shop, the snack bar... the smell of coffee and fast food. They had entered the cave through the gift shop and he knew the exit was there as well. 

Soon they'd be back in daylight and right now there was nothing more important than that. They rounded a corner and Jack said, “It's right in front of us now. We should...” 

They stopped. 

“Jack,” Daniel blurted out.

“What? What's going on?” Al asked, losing some of his earlier confidence. 

Jack's light hovered on a sign that said “EXIT” There was an arrow pointing ahead. But where the exit should be... where there should be light and people and a gift shop... there was a heavy wooden door.

And it was closed. 

“Crap,” Jack snarled. He went over and tried to open it. Of course that was futile. It was locked. 

“Oh, of course. We took the last tour, didn't we?” Daniel asked, defeated. Suddenly he felt very cold and uncomfortable. 

“What... what does that mean?” Al put the lanterns down and started rubbing his arms. “We... we don't have to... to stay the night here? Colonel?”

“No. We won't. They can't all be gone yet. Someone has to still be around. It's not that late.” Jack started pounding against the door with both fists, yelling for someone to open up. 

Al flinched at each resounding blow and Daniel felt him tremble beside him. “Don't worry,” he tried to comfort his friend. “We'll get out of here soon.”

“But what if no one comes?” Al grabbed Daniel's arm, causing him to suppress a groan of pain. “Daniel? What if no one comes for us?”

“We'll be fine,” Daniel said hastily. “Jack'll take care of it.”

Right now though, Jack looked pretty spooked himself. He paused in his effort to reach someone outside the cave and rubbed his hands on his pants. They stood and waited. For footsteps. For a voice calling from the other side of the door. For a key to be turned.

Nothing happened. 

“Phone,” Daniel said into the ongoing silence. “Your phone should work here, right? We're not underground.”

Jack had already whipped the phone and the map from his jacket. “Has to be a number for the visitor center... here.” He switched the phone on and gave them a thumb's up. “Works.” When he had punched in the numbers they all waited with held breath. 

And waited.

And waited.

“F... or crying out loud,” Jack snapped, making Al jump. 

“What?” Daniel carefully freed his arm from Al's grip. 

“Answering machine. Telling me the opening hours and where to get tickets online.” 

Al burst into tears and Jack cursed under his breath. Daniel leaned against the wall and hugged himself, only to be reminded of his blistered hands. He let them fall to his sides. This was all his fault. If he'd only stayed out of that gap. He watched as Jack put his arm around Al and tried to calm him while Al was going on about how his mom would be outraged and how he'd never be allowed to see Daniel again and how he was scared about having to stay the night and what if weird creatures lived in these caves after all...? 

Jack was doing his best to assure Alistair they wouldn't have to stay the night and that there were no zombies living in these caves. And that he'd take care of Al's mom (there was a slight shiver in his voice as he said that).... and that he'd call 911 now and all would be okay. To which Al bawled even louder, saying his mom would flip if they'd call 911 and ended up at the ER.

Daniel fumbled out his own mobile phone, trying to ignore his hands screaming murder at him, and punched in a speed dial number. _Please, take the call, please take the call_ , he prayed and almost jumped when a familiar voice answered the phone. “Daniel,” he blurted out, “Daniel, are you at the mountain? Can you get us out of the caves? Can you drive by the visitor center and tell them we're stuck? No! Don't call 911. Al's mom will go ballistic... can't you try... ?” The phone was snatched out of his hand and within minutes Jack had explained the situation and rescue was going to be on the way soon. 

“What now?” Al wiped his eyes.

“Now we wait,” Jack said. “It's not that far from the mountain. They'll come and get us out.” 

“How? Will they use C4 to blow off the door?” Al perked up at that thought, apparently not aware that the impact of using explosives would probably bury them all under a ton of rock. 

“There has to be someone around here. It's just after nineteen hundred. They're probably somewhere else locking up places or cleaning up. It's just a matter of finding them so they can open the door.” At Al's doubtful look, Jack went on, “If there's really no one around, they'll call the office in Manitou Springs. And if no one's there they'll break down the doors or call 911.”

“My mom's going to have a heart attack,” Al groaned.

“She'll live,” Jack said, then clapped his hands. “So! Let's get comfy, campers. At least it's dry up here and not too cold. I still want you two huddle together under this.” 

“What else are you carrying around in that thing?” Daniel asked when Jack pulled out a sealed package of golden foil. “Survival blankets?”

“This was in here before. Comes in handy when going adventuring with you,” Jack said with a smirk. “Sit down there and snuggle up.”

“Snuggle?” Al squeaked, bewildered.

“To share body warmth,” Daniel provided an explanation. “We won't have to really snuggle.” 

“Oh, okay.” Al joined Daniel who was already sitting back against the wall and Jack pulled the blanket around both of them. Daniel put his wrists on his knees, careful to avoid any contact with his hands. The pain had lessened slightly, but it was still bad enough. 

Jack placed all three lanterns in front of them so that it was almost cozy. But Daniel noticed the light becoming weaker. He wondered how long the kerosine would keep them burning. It was good they still had the flashlight even though Jack had switched it off to spare batteries - just in case they had to wait longer than expected. 

“Anyone hungry?” Out of the pack came a bag of M&Ms and three Wunderbar bars. “Sorry for the junk food. I didn't expect us to have a real picnic in here,” Jack said as he unwrapped one of the Wunderbars and let Daniel have a bite. Al opened the M&Ms and flipped them into his mouth. 

They weren't complaining about the food. It was chocolate after all. What's not to like? Licking the sweet taste of chocolate and peanutbutter off his lips, Daniel said, “All we need now is coffee. You don't have a thermos in that pack, do you?”

“Sorry. Just water,” Jack said with a grimace. He probably would have liked coffee as well. He settled down next to Daniel. “How...?”

“I'm fine.” Daniel tried to be patient. He had gotten them into this mess. It wouldn't do him any good to snap at Jack for asking 'How are you' every five minutes. 

“I'm okay, too,” Al informed them. He was still munching the M&Ms. When he held out the bag to Daniel he shook his head, but took another bite of the Wunderbar. He tried not to think of the fact that Jack was literally feeding him either. 

“How long will it take for them to get here?” Al asked after a moment of silence. They could hear the wind whistle somewhere deeper in the cave, but not too loud. Daniel remembered the guide saying it used to be a lot louder until they had built the gift shop over the hole in the ceiling. Now it was bearable. 

“An hour tops,” Jack said. “They’ll be faster coming from the mountain than any police or ambulance would be. It's quite a distance coming up here from the Springs.” 

“I should call my mom,” Al moaned. 

“Actually I'm wondering why she hasn't called you, yet,” Daniel said.

Al pulled out his phone to check it for missed calls. “She didn't.” Then he looked up and grinned. “Ohhh! She's out on some company dinner party. I just remembered! They had a major breakthrough on something they experimented on. Bry and dad went out to the movies, so they're not home yet, either.” He hesitated. “Do I have to call them anyway, Colonel O'Neill?”

Daniel cast Jack a glance. It was hard to make out his impression in the dark, but he was sure Jack was silently considering the issue. 

Finally he said, “Let's not get them upset just yet. Help is on the way and we're not in immediate danger.”

Al huffed a breath of relief and put his phone away. But Daniel knew they had to tell the Millers what happened. It was the responsible thing to do, right? He hung his head and stared at his dirty boots. What if Al really wasn't allowed to see him anymore? He'd grown to really like his new friend. It was fun doing things with him. Even though Al was a bit of a wuss sometimes and a bit annoying at other times. 

But still... it was fun hanging out with Al when he didn't want to play Nintendo for hours and hours or do card games all afternoon. And Daniel knew he was Al's only friend. If they weren't allowed to meet anymore Al would go back to being lonely. And Daniel knew all too well what it was like to be a lonely child. He'd lived through that the first time around. 

“I'm bored,” Al said out of the blue. He got out his phone again and started playing a game of snakes. 

Despite his worries about Al's parents going mental, Daniel felt his eyes drooping closed. He leaned his head against Jack's shoulder. Just a few minutes of dozing... But Jack shook him gently until he sat upright again. “Don't fall asleep, Daniel. Your body temp will drop and that's not a good thing in a cave. Stay alert.” Jack's hand felt his head again. “Feeling okay? Warm enough? But not too hot?”

“Yes, just tired,” Daniel muttered. He wished he could play games too, but his hands wouldn't like that. Next to him, Al lowered his phone and looked at him. “Maybe you can watch while I play?”

“No, thanks. I'll just...” He shifted his position, wincing at the various levels of pain spiking through his arms, shoulders and back. He felt Jack's eyes on him and forced a smile on his face. But he knew he couldn't fool his friend.

“Okay. How about a story?” Jack asked out of the blue. “To keep you awake and entertained.”

“A story?” Al and Daniel echoed each other.

“Sure. I'm the world's best story teller,” Jack quipped. 

“No offense, Jack. But we're a bit old for stories,” Daniel muttered. “You telling a story will probably make me fall asleep even faster.”

“Well, Mister Negative, you haven't seen me at my best, yet.” 

“Ja-ack... .”

“I'd like a story,” Al said suddenly. “Mom used to read to us when we were little. My favorite was The Lion King. We had a Disney book. Now I read comics or Stephen Hawking books when I can't sleep.” 

“Stephen Hawking, eh?” Jack said, sounding rather impressed. “I'm surrounded by little geniuses. Daniel reads history books, the bigger the better. You read quantum physics. Me? I watch the Simpsons.” 

“He's cool. I'm good at physics,” Al shrugged. Then he sat up straighter and put his phone away. “What story are you going to tell, Colonel?”

“You know you can call me Jack, right?” Jack had told Al multiple times in the beginning to just call him Jack. But like Sam he seemed to like to call him Colonel for some weird reason. When Al just shrugged, Jack said, “My favorite tale to tell would be the Wizard of the Winds.”

Daniel snorted. “That's the Wizard of Oz.”

“Nope, it's the Wizard of the Winds. Or rather the Wizard of the Caves of the Winds,” Jack insisted. 

“Okay, you got me. I have to hear that one,” Daniel gave in.

“Me too!” Al gobbled down more M&Ms and snuggled deeper into the blanket. 

Jack cleared his throat and began, “Remember when the Cave of the Winds was first found by a kid in...?”

“1869,” Daniel provided.

“They were two kids. Two boys,” Al said. 

“Right. So, our story begins on that day. But history got it wrong. It was just a girl and her dog. That girl and her dog... let's call them Danielle and Flyboy... .”

“Jaaack...”

Al sniggered. 

“Danielle and Flyboy loved to explore things and places. There was nothing more fun for them than to find new places to investigate. And so on a fine Sunday morning they wandered off from the other kids and the church picnic that was held near Manitou Springs.”

Daniel groaned and Al sniggered some more. 

Jack went on, “As they played catch in a canyon, all forgetting about time and everything else, a strange thing happened. They heard a whistling and howling, a whining and bawling, an uproar and crying. So scary and loud that Flyboy started to cry along with it and tried to hide behind Danielle. But Danielle was a brave girl and so she told Flyboy not to be a coward. She dragged him down the canyon from where the whistling and howling and bawling was coming. And there was an opening in the mountainside. A dark, dark gap from which the sounds came...

***

... “It's just the wind,” Danielle said. “Let's find out what's inside the gap.”

But when they entered the cave, an even stranger thing happened. In the entrance of the cave there was a cyclone and it picked up Danielle and Flyboy and whirled them around two or three times, then carried them into the cave. The two of them were caught in the center of the cyclone. And there they remained and were carried miles and miles away as easily as you'd carry a feather. 

On and on they went until the cyclone set them down in a far away part of the cave very gently. Danielle felt a bit dizzy, but that went away and she started to wander around in awe while Flyboy kept spinning around, trying to catch his tail. He thought he was still riding in the cyclone. Danielle petted him to calm him and finally he dropped on his butt and sat there, panting and exhausted from all the excitement. 

“This must be a different cave,” Danielle said as she looked around. There was no sound of the whistling wind. And it wasn't dark either. Lights danced across the walls and the ceiling like tiny fireflies. A blanket of soft and strangely glowing moss covered the ground and a bunch of furry cute little munchkins came bouncing down a path towards them. 

“Who are you?” Danielle asked, not afraid. She was never afraid. She thought everyone was a friend until they proofed otherwise. The furry little munchkins were dressed in a funny way. They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. One of them appeared to be a glowing woman, dressed in a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the dim light like diamonds. 

“We're the Furlings,” one of the munchkins said. “And we want to thank you because you killed the Wicked Witch of the East and freed us of her.”

The glowing woman nodded and clapped her hands. “Let's feast!”

Danielle felt rather confused as she had never killed anyone in her life. And Flyboy, while looking like a big scary dog, would never harm a living thing either. He only ate socks. But the woman seemed to expect her to answer, so Danielle said, “You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything." 

"Your dog did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a laugh, "and that is the same thing. See!" She pointed to where Flyboy was sitting. "There are her two feet, still sticking out from under your dog's tail.” 

Danielle looked and there, just under the big dog's butt, two feet were sticking out, shod in red ruby slippers with pointed toes. 

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Danielle, clasping her hands together in dismay. "The dog must have fallen on her. Whatever shall we do?" 

"There is nothing to be done," said the glowy woman calmly. "She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said. She has held all the Furlings in bondage for many years. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you. I am a friend of theirs. My name is Oma and I'm the Good Witch of the North. I am not as powerful as the Wicked Witch was who ruled here, or I should have set the people free myself." 

"But I thought all witches were at least a little bit wicked," said the girl.

"Oh, no, that is a great mistake. There were only four witches in all the Land of Winds, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches. I know this is true as I'm one of them myself. Those who dwelt in the East and the West were the wicked witches; but now that you have killed one of them, there is but one Wicked Witch in all the Land of Winds - the one who lives in the West. Then of course there are the wizards." 

"Who are the wizards?" asked Danielle. She was always curious and always wanted to learn new stuff. 

"O'Neill himself is the Great Wizard," answered Oma, sinking her voice to a whisper. "He is more powerful than all the rest of us together. He lives in the Majestic Hall." 

“Is he real powerful and all mighty?” Danielle asked. 

“Oh, yes, he is most powerful and all mighty,” explained the Witch of the North. “But look. The Wicked Witch has turned to dust. And all there is now are her red ruby slippers. You shall have them to wear." She reached down and picked up the shoes, shook out the dust, and handed them to Danielle. “There is some charm connected with them; but what it is we never knew." 

“Thank you,” said Danielle and slipped them on right away because her own shoes were old and worn. The red ruby slippers were pretty and fit her well. “But how do I get home now?”

“Where are you from?” the Furling-munchkins asked.

“From Colorado,” Danielle said. “But I guess we're not in Colorado anymore.”

No one knew where a place called Colorado was and so it was decided that Danielle had to go and meet the Great Wizard of the Winds. “O'Neill will help you get back to Colorado,” Oma said. “But you must hurry. For the candlelight is fire and time is a wasting.”

Danielle didn't know what the candlelight thing meant, but she nodded and called for Flyboy and together they went on their way through the caves to find the Wizard of the Winds. Before they left, though, Oma stepped close to Danielle and kissed her gently on the forehead. “This shall protect you from any harm. The road to the Majestic Hall is paved with yellow brick," said the Witch, "so you cannot miss it. When you get to O'Neill do not be afraid of him, but tell your story and ask him to help you. Good-bye, my dear." 

When Danielle had walked several miles on the yellow brick road she stopped to rest, and sat down with her dog beside the road. She was just marveling at the many stalactites around her when she saw a pretty huge stalagmite not far away. It swayed gently towards her and as she looked on she spotted a face painted on it. There was also an old, pointed blue hat, that had belonged to some Furling, perched on its head... end... whatever... The rest of the stalagmite was clad in blue BDUs, worn and faded. The stalagmite figure was raised above the mossy ground. “What are you?” Danielle asked, puzzled and Flyboy barked at it. 

"Good day," said the Stalagmite, in a rather husky voice. 

"Did you speak?" Danielle asked, in wonder. 

"Certainly," answered the Stalagmite. "How are you?" 

"I'm fine, thank you," replied Danielle politely. "How are you?" 

"I'm not feeling fine," said the Stalagmite, "for it is very tedious being stuck here night and day to scare away bats. The Furlings don't like the bats eating the fireflies off the wall so they put me here. If someone would just break me lose from the ground so I could wander away." 

“I will help you,” Danielle said at once because she was always helpful and supportive. She broke the stalagmite off the ground. 

"Thank you very much," said the Stalagmite, when he had been set down on the ground. "I feel like a new man. Who are you? And where are you going?" 

"My name is Danielle," said the girl, "and I'm going to the Majestic Hall, to ask the Great O'Neill to send me back to Colorado." 

"Where is the Majestic Hall?" he inquired. "And who is O'Neill? See, I don't know anything. I am just a stalagmite, so I have no brains at all." 

"Oh," said Danielle, "I'm awfully sorry for you. The O'Neill is a powerful and all mighty wizard." 

"Do you think," he asked, "if I go to the Majestic Hall with you, that O'Neill would give me some brains?" 

"I dunno," she returned, "but you may come with me, if you like. We'll ask the O'Neill to give you brains then." 

"Thank you," he answered gratefully. 

They continued down the road together. After a few hours the road began to be rough, and the walking grew so difficult that the Stalagmite often stumbled over the yellow bricks, which were very uneven. 

There were no fireflies at all by the roadside now, and the land was rough and wild. Toward evening they came to a great forest made of white illuminated crystals. The crystals grew so big and close together that their branches met over the road of yellow brick. But the travelers did not stop, and went on into the forest. 

"If this road goes in, it must come out," said the Stalagmite, "and as the Majestic Hall is at the other end of the road, we must go wherever it leads us." 

"Anyone would know that," said Danielle. 

"Certainly; that is why I know it," returned the Stalagmite. "If it required brains to figure it out, I never should have said it." 

They slept under a crystal tree and the next morning there was more light in the cave for some reason. Danielle found a trickle of water running down the cave walls and drank. She also found some leftover chocolate from the church picnic in her dress pocket and shared it with Flyboy. The stalagmite didn't require sleep nor food, so he was quite happy to just watch. When she had finished her meal, and was about to go back to the road of yellow brick, she heard deep groans close by. 

They turned and walked through the crystals a few steps, when Danielle discovered something odd sitting on the ground. One of the big crystals had been partly chopped through, and standing beside it, with a huge heavy wrench in his hands, was a man made entirely of tin. His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body. He stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all. 

"Did you groan?" asked Danielle. 

"Yes," answered the tin man, "I did. I've been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me." 

"What can I do for you?" she asked with every intention of helping.

"Get an oil-can and oil my joints," he answered. "They are rusted so badly. I can't move. It's so damp in this cave, I started to rust. The oil can is right over there, but I can't reach it.”

Danielle picked up the oil can and oiled the rusted joints. Tin man thanked them for his release, for he seemed a very polite creature, and very grateful. "I might have stood there always if you had not come along," he said. "So you have certainly saved my life. How did you happen to be here?" 

"We are on our way to the Majestic Hall to see the Great O'Neill," she answered.

"Why do you wish to see O'Neill?" he asked. 

"I want him to send me back home and the Stalagmite wants him to put brains into his head," she replied. 

The Tin Man appeared to think deeply for a moment. Then he said, "Do you suppose O'Neill could give me a heart?" 

"Why, I guess so," Danielle answered. 

Tin Man said, "So, if you will allow me to join your party, I will also go to the Majestic Hall and ask for help." 

So Tin Man shouldered his wrench and they all passed through the crystal forest until they came back to the road that was paved with yellow brick. It was good luck to have their new comrade join the party. They came to a place where the crystal trees and branches grew so thick over the road that the travelers couldn't pass. Tin Man just used his heavy wrench to smack a path through the crystals. 

“Why do you wish to have a heart and no brains?” asked Stalagmite after a while.

"My heart got ripped out of me by the curse of a wicked witch. I wanted to marry a handsome girl, but Hathor, the Wicked Witch got wind of it and didn't want me to have the girl for she was her servant. So she cursed my wrench and I beat myself into a pulp with it. I found a golden box to lie in and it gave me back my body and health. Only that it was made of tin now. But it didn't give me back my broken heart. I don't have a heart at all now. I'm just tin. But I want one so badly.”

Both Danielle and the Stalagmite had been greatly interested in the story of the Tin Man, and now they knew why he was so anxious to get a new heart. 

"I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one," Stalagmite said. 

"I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Man, "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world." 

As they went on there came from the crystal forest a terrible roar, and the next moment a great Lion with tiny bat wings bounded into the road. With one blow of his paw he sent the Stalagmite spinning over, and then he struck down Tin Man with his sharp claws. 

Flyboy, now that he had an enemy to face, ran barking toward the bat winged Lion, and the great beast opened his mouth to bite the dog, when Danielle rushed forward and slapped the Lion upon his nose as hard as she could, while she cried out, “Don't you dare to bite Flyboy! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a big beast like you, to bite a poor dog!" 

"I didn't bite him," said the Lion, as he rubbed his nose with his paw. 

"No, but you tried to," Danielle snapped. "You're a big coward." 

"I know it," said the Lion, hanging his head in shame. "I've always known it. But how can I help it?" 

"What makes you a coward?" asked Danielle as she helped the Stalagmite and the Tin Man to stand. 

"It's a mystery," replied the Lion. "I suppose I was born that way. All the other animals in the forest naturally expect me to be brave, for the Lion is everywhere thought to be the King of Beasts. I learned that if I roared very loudly every living thing was frightened and got out of my way. Whenever I've met someone I've been awfully scared; but I just roared at him, and he has always run away as fast as he could go. I'm such a coward; but just as soon as they hear me roar they all try to get away from me, and of course I let them go." 

"But that isn't right. The King of Beasts shouldn't be a coward," said the Stalagmite. 

"I know it," returned the Lion, wiping a tear from his eye with the tip of his tail. "It is my great sorrow, and makes my life very unhappy. But my heart beats so fast when I'm afraid, it scares me too.” 

"Perhaps you have heart disease," said the Tin Woodman. 

"It may be," said the Lion. 

"If you have," continued the Tin Woodman, "you ought to be glad. It proves you have a heart.”

"Perhaps," said the Lion thoughtfully, "if I had no heart I should not be a coward." 

"Have you brains?" asked the Stalagmite. 

"I suppose so. I've never looked to see," replied the Lion. 

"I'm going to the Great O'Neill to ask him to give me some," remarked the Stalagmite. 

"And I am going to ask him to give me a heart," said the Woodman. 

"And I am going to ask him to send Flyboy and me back to Colorado," added Danielle. 

"Do you think O'Neill could give me courage?" asked the Cowardly Lion. 

"Just as easily as he could give me brains," said the Stalagmite. 

"Or give me a heart," said the Tin Woodman. 

"Or send me back home," said Danielle. 

"Then, if you don't mind, I'll go with you," said the Lion.

So once more the little company set off on their journey. 

Once the Tin Man stepped upon a beetle that was crawling along the road, and killed the poor little thing. This made Tin Man very unhappy as he was always careful not to hurt any living creature; and as he walked along he wept several tears of sorrow and regret. From that moment on he walked very carefully, with his eyes on the road, and when he saw a tiny ant run by he would step over it, so as not to harm it. 

"You people with hearts," he said, "have something to guide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful.” 

The next day was to be an eventful day for the travelers. They had hardly been walking an hour when they saw before them a great ditch that crossed the road and divided the white crystal forest as far as they could see on either side. It was a very wide ditch, and when they crept up to the edge and looked into it they could see it was also very deep, and there were many big, jagged rocks at the bottom. The sides were so steep that none of them could climb down, and for a moment it seemed that their journey must end. 

But Stalagmite said, "We cannot fly, that is certain. Neither can we climb down into this great ditch. Therefore, if we can't jump over it, we must stop where we are." 

"I think I could jump over it," said the bat-winged Lion, after measuring the distance carefully in his mind. “My wings are too tiny for me to fly, but I could jump.”

"Then we are all right," answered the Stalagmite. "You can carry us all over on your back, one at a time." 

"Well, I'll try it," said the Lion. The stalagmite was first to climb on his back. Then giving a great spring, Lion shot through the air, flapping his mostly useless bat wings. And landed safely on the other side. They were all greatly pleased to see how easily he did it. And so he sprang back and forth, getting them all across the ditch. 

This adventure made the travelers more anxious than ever to get out of the forest, and they walked so fast that Danielle became tired and had to ride on the Lion's back. To their great joy the crystals became thinner the farther they went, and in the afternoon they suddenly came to a broad river, flowing swiftly along the yellow brick road. The fireflies were back and pink lotus flowers grew on the walls, giving the caves an exotic look. 

But suddenly the river crossed the brick road and they were stopped once again.

"This is bad," said the Tin Man. "If we can't get to the other side we can't go on.” 

"And then I will get no brains," said Stalagmite. 

"And I will get no courage," said the Cowardly bat winged Lion. 

"And I will get no heart," said the Tin Man. 

"And I will never get back to Colorado," said Danielle "We must certainly get to the Majestic Hall." 

But then Tin Man had an idea. He laid himself down and stretched his joints far enough so that he could serve as a bridge across the river. He used his wrench as an extension of one of his arms, which worked very well. And on the little group went. Once they had crossed the river, Danielle gazed at the lotus flowers dreamily. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"I suppose so," answered the Stalagmite. "Once I have brains, I'll probably like them better." 

"If I only had a heart, I should love them," added the Tin Man. 

They wandered on and soon reached a little house where they were invited to have a meal. So they all entered the house, where there was a huge black guy called Murray who served them hot soup and donuts. 

"Where are you all going?" asked Murray. 

"To the Majestic Hall," said Danielle, "to see the Great O'Neill." 

"Are you sure O'Neill will see you? I have been to the Majestic Hall many times, and it is a wonderful place; but I have never been permitted to see the Great O'Neill, nor do I know of any living person who has seen him." 

"Does he never go out?" asked Stalagmite. 

"Never. He sits day after day in the great Throne Room of his Palace, and even those who wait upon him do not see him face to face," Murray said. 

"What is he like?" asked the girl. 

"That is hard to tell. O'Neill is a Great Wizard, and can take on any form he wishes. So that some say he looks like a bird; and some say he looks like an elephant; and some say he looks like a cat. To others he appears as a beautiful fairy, or a donut, or in any other form that pleases him. But who the real O'Neill is, no living person can tell." 

"That is very strange," said Danielle, "but we must try to see him" 

"Why do you wish to see the terrible O'Neill?" asked Murray. 

"I want him to give me some brains," said the Stalagmite eagerly. 

"I want him to give me a heart," said the Tin Man. 

"I want him to give me courage," said the Cowardly bat-winged Lion. 

"And I want him to send me back to Colorado," said Danielle. 

"Where is Colorado?" asked Murray. “I have never heard of such a place.” 

"I don't know, but it's my home," replied Danielle. 

"O'Neill can do anything. He will find this Colorado for you. But first you must get to see him, and that will be a hard task; for the Great Wizard does not like to see anyone. You must bring him some donuts and some Froot Loops to mellow him so he will listen to you.” And the huge guy, Murray, handed them a basket of donuts and a box of Froot Loops which they took with them. 

Soon after they reached the Majestic Hall. And it was very majestic as it was decorated with lots of glittering emeralds and blue sparkling crystals and golden crowns growing on top of the crystals. 

As they walked on, the green and blue glow of the emeralds and crystals became brighter and brighter, and it seemed that at last they were nearing the end of their travels. 

In front of them, and at the end of the road of yellow brick, was a big gate, all studded with emeralds that glittered so in the sun that even the painted eyes of Stalagmite were dazzled by their brilliancy. 

There was a bell beside the gate, and Danielle pushed it and heard a silvery tinkle sound within. Then the big gate swung slowly open, and they all passed through and found themselves in a high arched room. 

Before them stood a little boy the same age as Danielle. He was clothed all in green, from his head to his feet, and even his skin was greenish. "I am Alistair. What do you wish in the Majestic Hall?" 

"We came here to see the Great O'Neill," said Danielle. 

Alistair slapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head. “Oh! Oh! He is powerful and terrible, and if you come on an idle or foolish errand to bother the wise reflections of the Great Wizard, he might be angry and destroy you all." 

"But it is not a foolish errand, nor an idle one," replied the Stalagmite. "It's important. And we have been told that O'Neill is a good Wizard." 

"So he is," said Alistair, "and he rules the Majestic Hall and the Land of the Winds wisely and well. But to those who just approach him to waste his time he is most terrible and moody. Especially since he has lost his yo-yo last week. I'm the Guardian of the Gates, and since you demand to see the Great O'Neill I must take you to his Place. Have you brought gifts?”

“We brought Donuts and Froot Loops to soften him,” Tin Man said.

“That is wise.” Alistair led them through the hall until they came to a big building, exactly in the middle of the hall, which was the Palace of O'Neill, the Great Wizard. 

First they came to a great hall in which were many ladies and gentlemen of the court, all dressed in blue dress blues decorated with lots of medals and ribbons and stars. These people had nothing to do but talk to each other, but they always came to wait outside the Throne Room every morning, although they were never permitted to see O'Neill. As Danielle and her friends entered they looked at them curiously, and one of them, a pretty blond major, whispered, "Are you really going to see O'Neill, the Terrible?" 

"Of course," answered the girl. 

“That is not fair. I wanted him to see my reports and files forever! He will not see me!”

Al opened a little door and they walked boldly through and found themselves in a wonderful place. It was a big, round room with a high arched roof, and the walls and ceiling and floor were covered with large emeralds set closely together. But what interested them most was the big throne of green marble that stood in the middle of the room. It was shaped like a chair and sparkled with gems, as did everything else. In the center of the chair was a very handsome head with stylish gray-ish hair and nice brown eyes. But it was without a body to support it or any arms or legs. Danielle wondered how the O'Neill would play with his yo-yo without having hands. But then she decided it was all magic and that the O'Neill could probably create hands if he needed them.

The brown eyes turned slowly and looked at her sharply and steadily. Then the mouth moved, and a voice said, "I'm O'Neill, the Great and Terrible. Who are ya, and why do ya disturb my nap?" 

"I am Danielle, the peaceful explorer. I have come to you for help." 

The eyes looked at her thoughtfully for a full minute. Then said the voice, "Where'd you get the ruby shoes, eh?" 

"I got them from Anise, the Wicked Witch of the East, when my dog fell on her and killed her," she replied. 

Again the eyes looked at her sharply, and they saw she was telling the truth. Then O'Neill asked, "You brought some gifts?" 

“Oh, yeah. I brought donuts and Froot Loops.” And she put the basket and the box in front of the throne and the Great O'Neill's head bent down to peer at them. “Sweet,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”

"Send me back to Colorado," she answered earnestly. “That's where my home is.”

“Give me brains, please,” said the Stalagmite.

“I long for a heart,” Tin Man added.

“I wish to have courage,” the Lion explained. 

The eyes winked three times, and then they turned up to the ceiling and down to the floor and rolled around so queerly that they seemed to see every part of the room. And at last they looked at Danielle again. "Nah, I think you can all stay here and serve me.” 

"But we're not your servants,” Danielle shouted. “You have no right to enslave me and make me serve you. It's not the right thing to do. You must do what your heart tells you. We're nice people, we won't do you any harm. But we request you grant us our wishes. I want to go home. Stalagmite wants brains and Tin Man wants a heart. And the Lion a bit of courage. You can do it because you are the Great Wizard." 

"But you were strong enough to kill the Wicked Witch of the East," said O'Neill. “You don't need my help.” 

"That just happened," returned Danielle simply; "I could not help it." 

"Yadda, yadda, yadda,” said the head, “I'm bored. I lost my yo-yo and the Wicked Witch of the West must've taken it. You go kill her and bring back my yo-yo and I might grant you your wishes.”

Having no other choice, they turned toward the West, walking over fields of soft moss dotted here and there with lotus and poppies. They crossed the Bridal Chamber where everything was white, even the floor. Doves were flying in and out of it, carrying rings and flowers in their beaks. In the afternoon they had reached the West. 

The Wicked Witch of the West was a pretty red head called Hathor. She loved wine, men and music and she lived a rather pompous life. As our friends approached her she immediately saw the red ruby slippers on Danielle's feet. She knew about their power. And greedy as she was, she wanted them. Danielle, however, didn't know of the wonderful power the shoes could give her. So the Wicked Witch laughed to herself, and thought, "I can make them all my slaves, for they don't know how to use the power." 

Then she told Danielle and her friends harshly, “Come with me; and see that you mind everything I tell you, for if you do not I will make an end of you and your worthless little friends." 

They all went to work meekly in the kitchen and the gardens and the rest of the Wicked Witch's part of the caves. 

Now the Wicked Witch Hathor had a great longing to have the ruby slippers. If she could only get hold of them, they would give her more power than all the other things she used for magic. Like the hand jewelry for hurting slaves, or the golden box for keeping her youth and beauty... Or the stupid yo-yo she stole from the Wizard. It didn't do anything but bounce. 

But the child was so proud of her pretty shoes that she never took them off except at night and when she took her bath. The Witch was too much afraid of the dark to dare go in Danielle's room at night to take the shoes, and her dread of water was even greater than her fear of the dark, so she never came near when Danielle took a bath. 

But the wicked creature was very cunning, and she finally thought of a trick that would give her what she wanted. She placed a bar of iron in the middle of the kitchen floor, and then made the iron invisible. So Danielle stumbled over the bar, not being able to see it, and fell. She was not much hurt, but in her fall one of the ruby slippers came off. And before she could reach it, the Witch had snatched it away and put it on her own skinny foot. 

The little girl, seeing she had lost one of her pretty shoes, grew angry, and said to the Witch, "Give me back my shoe!" 

"I will not," retorted Hathor, "for it is now my shoe." 

"You're a wicked creature!" cried Danielle. She was so angry that she picked up a bucket of water and dashed it over the Witch, wetting her from head to foot. Instantly the wicked woman gave a loud cry of fear, and then, as Danielle looked at her in wonder, the Witch began to shrink and fall away. 

"See what you have done!" she screamed. "I'm melting! I'm melting!!! Didn't you know water would be the end of me?" 

"Of course not," answered Danielle. "How should I?" 

Hathor melted into a brown, shapeless mass and began to spread over the clean kitchen floor. Seeing that she had really melted away to nothing, Danielle drew another bucket of water and threw it over the mess and swept it all out the door. She then picked up her ruby slipper and put it back on. And off she went to tell her friends what had happened. 

“Excellent,” said the Tin Man. “We must go back to O'Neill, and claim his promise. At last I shall get my heart." 

"And I shall get my brains," added the Stalagmite joyfully. 

"And I shall get my courage," said the bat-winged Lion. 

"And I shall get back home," cried Danielle, clapping her hands. 

They found the yo-yo in Hathor's pompous bed and took it with them.

Soon the four travelers walked up to the great gate of Majestic Hall once more and rang the bell. After ringing several times, it was opened by the same Guardian of the Gates they had met before. 

"What! Are you back again?" Alistair asked in surprise. "I thought you had gone to visit the Wicked Witch of the West." 

"We did visit her, but she is no more. She is melted," explained the Stalagmite. 

"Melted! Well, that's good news, indeed," said Alistair. "Who melted her?" 

"It was Danielle," said the Lion gravely. 

"Good gracious!" exclaimed Al, and he bowed very low before her. 

Then he led them on through the gate into the Majestic Hall. When the people heard from the Guardian of the Gates that Danielle had melted the Wicked Witch of the West, they all gathered around the travelers and followed them in a great crowd to the Palace of O'Neill. 

Alistair had the news carried straight to O'Neill that the travelers had come back again, after destroying the Wicked Witch...

***

...“And once the great and wise wizard of the Cave of the Winds had back his yo-yo, he granted them their wishes. He told Danielle how to return to Colorado by just telling the ruby slippers to take her home. Stalagmite got his brains, Tin Man a heart and the bat winged Lion got courage - and a set of larger wings on top. And they all lived happily ever after,” Jack finished with a flourish. 

“Now wait a minute,” Daniel laughed. “I thought there was something about the Wizard being a false Wizard? Didn't he get to the Land of Winds by accident and posed as a great wizard while in reality he was just a scam?”

“And wasn't it Glinda, the good witch, who told Danielle about the ruby slippers?” added Al.

“Yeah! You could have made Sam being Glinda. She wasn't in the story,” Daniel complained. “Being just a pretty blond major doesn't count.”

“Nope,” Jack said with a bright grin. “That's the Wizard of Oz. The great O'Neill wasn't false. He's truly great and powerful and wise. And I'll put Carter as the star into my next story. Promise.”

“Rrrriiighhht,” Daniel giggled. ”And very terrible you are.” He couldn't help it, he had really liked the story and he hadn't even felt his body's complaints for a while. 

“My favorite was the donuts and Froot Loop offerings,” Al chortled. 

“I loved how you screamed 'I'm melting, I'm melting'. That was really authentic,” Daniel said. “I'm surprised you didn't startle some bats with that.”

“Oh yeah. Your voices are pretty neat,” Al agreed.

Jack smirked rather smugly as he held the water bottle for Daniel so he could drink, then passed it on to Al. 

“I’m still not going to forgive you for turning me into a girl,” Daniel muttered.

“Oh, come on, you were a pretty brave girl,” Jack grinned. “And I didn’t see you wearing ruby slippers while being a boy.”

“You could have made them flashy sneakers,” Al suggested.

“Nah, had to be ruby slippers,” Jack insisted.

“And you didn't use the line 'Click your heels three times and say 'There's no place like home',” Daniel pointed out. 

As if on cue a bright light fell into the cave, blinding them all for a moment. Then there were voices and suddenly the entrance area was full of people. Jack got to his feet and, straightening his jacket, said, “Well, it's about time!”

Two employers of the Park hurried to apologize profoundly for the mishap, all but begging Jack not to sue the company. Jack gave them a threatening look of wrath as he informed them he would have words with their superiors about the way their guide had rushed through the whole tour and that he apparently neglected to realize three of his group were missing. 

_It was my fault,_ Daniel wanted to intervene, _I wandered off._ But BD pushed through the group of people at that moment and crouched in front of them. “Hey, you two Indies, everything okay?”

“We're fine,” Daniel murmured, accepting the hair ruffle from his older version. “Thanks for coming for us.”

“Anytime. We brought Siler - just in case we'd have to break down any doors,” BD said with a grin.

“Thankfully we didn't have to,” Siler said as he appeared next to BD. “There were several people still around, just not at the office or the gift shop.”

“Excuse me! Will you let me through, please! I have to take a look at the kids,” a familiar voice snapped at the men who had gathered in the cave entrance. Daniel wanted to vanish on the spot or at least shrink to hide in the survival blanket. 

“Who's that?” Al whispered.

“I'm your doctor, honey.” Janet effectively squeezed her small form between Siler and Daniel. She turned to Al first, shining her penlight into his eyes, checking his temperature and asking him how he felt. Then she instructed him to go with Siler and wait by the truck. “He's probably okay,” she told a hovering Jack. “He's cold and exhausted, but I think a hot bath and chicken soup will take care of it.” 

“I'm okay, too,” Daniel said bravely as he got to his feet.

“Oh, no. The colonel told me you fell into a pit and got stuck. You'll wait for the medics,” Janet told him in a final tone.

“The medics? But I've walked all the way from the pit up here. I'm fine!” Daniel pushed off the survival blanket and took a few steps towards Jack. “Tell her I'm fine, Jack.”

“You let me be the judge of that, Colonel,” Janet snapped when Jack opened his mouth. She called for the medics over her shoulder. Two men came in, carrying a stretcher. 

With a low groan Daniel buried his face in Jack's jacket. Jack patted his back, but said, “You better do what she says. Or you'll never hear the end of it.”

“You mean, _you_ will never hear the end of it if you tell her to let me walk out of here,” Daniel hissed. 

“You're in pain. And it's a bit of a rocky slope down to the parking lots. So suck it up and take it like a man.”

Swallowing a quite nasty remark, Daniel lowered himself on the stretcher and let them secure him. But on their way down he had to admit that he was pretty drained and kind of glad he didn't have to walk. Though he would deny it to his last breath. 

Jack, who walked next to him until they reached the parking area, had to drive his own truck over to the mountain. Daniel wished he could go with him, but the rescue team had brought the base's ambulance and so he had to put up with Janet fussing over his blood pressure, temperature and other vitals once they were on their way. Al, who was in the ambulance with Daniel, seemed to be torn between being scared of having to go to the infirmary and the coolness of going to a military base to be examined by a military doctor. 

Once they reached Cheyenne Mountain, Daniel was rushed into the infirmary on a gurney as if he was in mortal danger. Al trudged along, awing and oh-ing over the checkpoints, the elevators, the long ride down... 

After the usual prodding and probing and just when Daniel was about to be moved on to x-rays and CT Scans, Jack told him he would take Al home. “Fraiser cleared him and I think it's best to get him out of here and to bed. He's wired to the max. I'll be back ASAP. Jackson's going to stay with you.”

“Jack, I'm a big boy. I can handle a few scans,” Daniel muttered, then asked, “You think Janet will let us go home tonight?” 

“I hope so. Heaven knows what the dog chewed on and drooled over while we were gone this long.”

“He's a good dog,” Daniel said, stiffling a yawn. “But I want to go home too. I hope Al's mom doesn’t go ballistic.” He looked past Jack at his friend, who was wearing an oversized BDU field jacket to keep him warm. “Hey, Al. I'm really sorry I got us into trouble,” he said.

“Actually it was kinda cool, now that it it's over.” Al shrugged. “And I got to see the mountain! I knew there are underground levels! It's so cool! I had no idea there's a hospital down here.” 

“Yeah, it's really cool,” Daniel said with a lopsided grin. They high fived each other and when Al left, Daniel heard him chatter at Jack. “Can I come back one day and see where you work? And what exactly is it you do down here anyway? Is this some top secret base? Is it classified?”

Daniel felt sorry for Jack. And on top of Al's ongoing interrogation he'd have to deal with his parents and explain about why they were so late and why Al needed chicken soup and a hot bath. 

Janet re-appeared, chart in hand, and ushered him to the X-rays and scans. She wanted to know what exactly had happened and when Daniel told her the whole story, she clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Couldn't you just have asked the colonel for a new knife?” 

“Yeah, I guess. But I liked this one,” Daniel said. He was tired and just wanted this to be over with. He didn't want to explain to her about the cool pendant and the glistening water making it look like it was magical. 

“Boys,” Janet said. “I'll never understand them.”

***

By the time Jack locked his truck in the parking lot at Cheyenne Mountain it was very late and he felt his knees and back even more. Crawling through caves was SO not going to happen again anytime soon. 

Al was home, hopefully now soaking in a hot bath. Only Mr. Miller and Brian had been there and Jack had given Al's dad a pretty toned down version of the day's events. 

He had made a deal with the kid. Jack didn't tell his parents how they had lost their guide and Daniel got hurt. Instead he'd just told Al's dad they got delayed during the tour because _some people_ had gotten lost and needed rescuing. In return Al wouldn't spill about underground levels and hospitals at NORAD. 

Al's dad was much less fretful than his mom which made things a lot easier. He hadn't asked many questions, just nodded to Jack's suggestion about chicken soup and hot tub. And Jack didn't feel particularly bad about this. After all, Alistair was fine and he hadn't been the one running off and falling into a pit. 

Nope, that had been Daniel's job. Of course. Naturally. But Jack was too tired and relieved the Wretch hadn’t broken his scrawny neck to be really angry. It had been a very long and uncomfortable afternoon for all of them and so he decided to give the kid some slack. 

As he entered the infirmary Daniel was no where in sight, but Jackson slouched on one of the uncomfortable visitor chairs. When he spotted Jack, he put his book down and crossed the room to meet him. “The x-ray and CT turned out okay, mostly. I think he's got a couple of bruises. But nothing worse.”

“Where is he?” Jack asked quietly. 

Jackson winced visibly as he said, “Janet is cleaning his hands.”

“Oy.” 

“Yeah. Look, he told me what happened, and I know you're not happy. But,” Jackson shrugged and gave him a sheepish little grin, “I told him you wouldn't be too hard on him.” 

“How very thoughtful of you.”

“Anytime.”

“Want to adopt him?”

“Uh, actually, I think I've got work to do... feed the fish, save the world, you know, meaning of life stuff?” He batted his eyelashes, smiled, and waved on his way out. “See you Monday, Jack.”

Jack snorted as he watched his retreating back.

“Colonel, I'm just done with Daniel's hands.” Fraiser snapped off her gloves and ditched them into a bin by the door. “The cuts aren't very deep and you did a good job on them. But I had to remove bits of debris. He should keep those hands still for at least two or three days. You need to change the bandage twice a day and put this on his palms.” She handed him a tube of antibiotic cream. “It should heal just fine if you follow the instructions.” 

“Thanks, Doc. Can I take him home?”

“I don't see why not. He doesn't show any signs of hypothermia and should be fine with some chicken soup and a hot bath, like his friend. Just keep those hands dry. I suggest you keep him home for at least a week. His shoulders, back, and ribs took a pretty rough hit. It's like a jolt through the whole body when a fall gets stopped this abruptly. He got lucky, though. Nothing is broken. He needs rest. I'm going to give you something to put on the affected areas. It'll relax the muscles and help with the pain.” She pointed over her shoulder at the curtains pulled close around one of the beds. “He's in there.”

He was sitting on a bed, both hands wrapped in pristine white bandages. Jack took one look at Daniel's white, guarded face and the unshed tears glistening in his tired blue eyes and rushed over to hug him. “That bad?” he asked as Daniel leaned into him for a moment. Someone had helped him change into a fresh pair of BDUs, a t-shirt and field jacket. 

“'m fine,” he ground out. “Janet had to clean my hands again. It was kind of yucky.” Then he pushed away and looked up at Jack almost pleadingly. “Tell me I won't have to stay the night?”

“You won't have to stay the night,” Jack confirmed. “We'll be outta here in no time.”

“Oh, good. I'd hate to be stuck here and have the nurses fuss over me. They think I'm adorable or something.” He slipped off the bed and moved his shoulders gingerly. 

“Ready?” Jack grabbed Daniel's old clothes and they made their way out of the infirmary and down the hallway. 

As they waited for the elevators, the munchkin glanced up at him. “Aren't you going to start yelling? I'm pretty tired so I'd appreciate it if we could get it over with and skip to the point where you tell me for how long I'll be grounded and stripped of my privileges “

“Oh, you know, I think that won't be necessary,” Jack said lightly.

Daniel squinted at him, suspicion written all over his face. “Good. Right. But what does that mean? You're not going to lock me into the house until I die of boredom?”

“Nope.”

“You're not going to cut my curfew or take away my bike because I acted irresponsibly?”

“Nope.”

“That's just weird.”

When the elevator arrived and they stepped in, Jack asked casually, “Who got you the new clothes?” 

“BD got them for me from the locker room.”

“Did he help you change?”

“Yeah. These bandages really suck. Janet said... Oh!” He gazed at his hands. Jack could see the wheels turn in the kid's head. Finally Daniel sighed. “Uhhh-huuh. Very funny.”

“What?” 

“Janet said I'm supposed to keep my hands still as much as possible.”

“Yep.”

“I can't work like this.”

“Nope.”

“How long?”

“Fraiser says at least a week.”

Daniel kept silent until they were in the second elevator. Then he raised his hands until they were on his eye level. “And you'll have to help me dress, wash my hair and... stuff.”

“Yep.”

“And I won't be able to ride my bike until they're healed. And I'm going to miss my next climbing lesson at Garden of the Gods.”

“That's right.”

“So I'm basically stuck at the house and will be at your mercy for at least a week.”

“Well, I'm happy to help you out, buddy. And I'll do my best to make you comfortable. But you know I'm a huge fan of natural consequences. I think that will do.” 

Daniel let out a long suffering sigh. “And of course you know I won't take advantage of this by ordering you around all day to do stuff for me. Like turning the pages of my books or bringing me cool drinks and snacks every five minute?”

“Ahhh, you feel way too guilty to do that,” Jack said confidently. 

They left the mountain and a few moments later Jack helped Daniel into the truck and fastened the seat belt for him. Daniel nodded gravely. “You know me too well, I guess. This really hurts whenever I move my hands. Do you have any idea how often you use them over the day? I mean, everything hurts right now. My back, my ribs, my shoulders... but it's nothing compared to the hands. And I know I deserve it and I won't give you a hard time, I promise.” 

“That's nice. I'll remind you of that should you change your mind.”

“No, really. And you know what's the worst of this?” Daniel leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. “The worst about this,” he said with a tiny little grin, “is that I won't be able to do any chores. None at all. Not even clean my room. Or take out the trash. Or do the dishes. It's a tragedy, oh yes, a real tragedy.”

Jack felt any bit of smugness he might have felt about his clever way of disciplining the brat drain from him. He didn't like his kid being hurt. And it wasn't a laughing matter. He could have fallen into the pit and broken a couple of bones. Or worse. 

He cupped Daniel's face and gave him a long hard look. “I know you're damn sorry about what happened. And I think you're going to suffer enough with those hands and everything else. But give me this kind of attitude and you're going to do a lot of extra chores once you're capable again.” 

Daniel swallowed. “I was just kidding.”

“Well, I wasn't.” Jack stepped back, slammed the door and walked around to climb in on his side. 

“I'm sorry, I really am. But you were so full of yourself about how you got one over me, I had to say it,” Daniel said meekly as they were leaving the parking lot. “I know this isn't funny. It was just so tempting.” 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Brat.”

“Can Al come over to visit?” Daniel asked after a while. “What did his parents say anyway?”

“Al can come over to visit once you’ve had a few days of rest. I don't think he's in any kind of trouble.”

“What'd you tell them?”

“Need to know basics.”

“You stretched the truth?”

“I decided there's no need to upset them. It wasn't their kid setting off to explore on his own.”

“You said you weren't going to chew me out, remember?” 

“I'm merely stating a fact. And I was worrying my ass off about getting you back through that cave and out of there, not knowing how badly you were really injured.” He couldn't help it. Now that the tension was wearing off, he was angry after all. He had to at least say his piece.

“I know,” Daniel whispered, shrinking visibly in his seat. 

“I know you know that. Just...” Jack took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. “There'll be lots of opportunities for you to get hurt or... worse... once this whole Anubis thing goes off. Do us both a favor and stay out of trouble until then? At least try to?”

Jack knew he was being harsh. But hell, they were probably living on borrowed time and god knew how much longer they had before the scumbag showed up and tried to destroy them. He wanted them to enjoy the couple of peaceful months, maybe weeks, they had left. Was that too much to ask? 

“I'll try my best,” Daniel said quietly. 

The silence between them stretched and grew and Jack began to wish he hadn't brought up Anubis. He glanced at Daniel who was sitting there stiffly, eyes fixed on the windscreen.

“Crap,” Jack said under his breath. 

“It's not like I set out to get into trouble. Or injured,” Daniel said flatly. “I know what I did was stupid and careless. I was excited about the pendant. I just wanted to take a look. It's been so long since...”

“You miss going off world,” Jack concluded.

“Sometimes I do. Sometimes I... don't. I miss the exploring. The feeling of accomplishment I used to have when we found traces of an old civilization and I could put together the puzzle about who they were. How they lived. I miss going to exciting places and investigating. I miss the living history. I don't miss the downsides of going off world. I don't particularly LIKE getting hurt or imprisoned and tortured.”

They had reached the house and Jack parked in the driveway. It was a mild summer night and he could see stars lurking above the trees in the yard as he rounded the truck to help Daniel out. 

Later, after they had greeted the dog, Jack put a bowl of chicken soup and a plate with two cheddar sandwiches on the coffee table. Daniel, who was wrapped in a blanket and curled up on the couch, glanced at the bowl. “How am I going to... ?”

Jack placed a straw next to it. “Let it cool off a bit. Then you can sip it. It's canned soup, so there's not much in it but broth,” he said. 

“Thanks.” 

“How are you, kiddo?” He settled next to him. 

“Tired. I'm not feeling cold. Can't we skip the bath tonight? I'll take one tomorrow. To wash off the smell of cave.” He looked a bit embarrassed. “Do you think I can have bubbles? I won't get my hands wet. I promise.” It was a well kept secret that Little Daniel had a weakness for bubble baths. He mostly showered, but every once in a while he craved bubbles. 

“I think a bit of bubbles are doable. We can wrap your hands in freezer bags to make sure they stay dry.”

“Oh, good idea.”

“You'll have the soup though. And the sandwich.”

“Okay.” He sat up and leaned forward to blow over the steaming broth. “Smells good. Even though it's canned.” He gingerly picked up one of the sandwiches with the fingertips of both hands. “I can hold this,” he sighed with relief and took a bite.

“We didn't have dinner. Dig in,” Jack said and took the other sandwich.

They sat and ate in silence for a while. But it was a much more relaxed silence than before. Jack's earlier irritation was gone and he just wanted a few hours of shut eye. The next few days were going to be difficult, not only for Daniel. Jack tended to overdo the mother-henning when he had to take care of a sick Daniel. And Daniel was bad at accepting help without fretting or balking. Some things had changed over the last two years. But it was still going to be a challenging week at times. 

“Are you still angry?” Daniel asked out of the blue.

“No,” Jack said softly. “You know what it's like. We screw up sometimes, we get over it, we move on. I was worried. I get cranky when I'm worried.” 

“This was supposed to be a great day... .”

“And if I really was a great and all mighty wizard I'd make it all undone. But I guess I'll have to practice a lot to get there.”

“What would you give me? If you were the Wizard of the Winds?” Daniel sipped from his soup and eyed Jack curiously.

“Well, you've got brains, a heart and lots of courage. There's only one thing I'd give you,” Jack said with a grin. “A protective charm. Or a body shield.”

Daniel snorted. “Like the kiss the Good Witch of the North gave Dorothy to protect her from any harm?” 

“Why not?” Jack bent down and kissed the top of Daniel's head. “There you go.”

“Ah, thank you.” 

Jack wished it was that easy. But they both knew it wasn't. 

“We had lots of fun this summer, didn't we? I mean lots more than last summer. Last summer I was a bit wacko and then I got lost on that planet and had to start therapy. And then there was Nashi and all the trouble he got me into.”

Oh, right. That raccoon. Jack always remembered it with mixed feelings. 

“This summer I had a lot of good things to write in my diary,” Daniel finished. “Like the Garden of the Gods and the balloon ride. And the rock climbing class and all the times we spent at the lake. And my birthday.”

“But last year we went to Egypt,” Jack reminded him. “And we had a nice Christmas.” _And we got another you_ , he thought with even more mixed feelings. 

“We even went sledding. If I'm still... if it's not... can we do that again this winter?”

“Yeah, sure.” He wanted that. He wanted to have another fall, another winter, another Christmas with this Daniel. He didn't want this to end. Despite all the troubles they had gone through and all the heartache this second childhood had given them both... When it came down to it, Jack wanted things to stay just the way they were. 

Well, aside from Fergus making out with Jackson, maybe. But that was another story. 

Fin


End file.
